Navigating the (Mis)Information Age: A Conceptual Framework for Defining, Assessing, and Teaching Critical Thinking in Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education

Abstract

Critical thinking is a vital skill for navigating the abundance of information, misinformation, and disinformation available to individuals of all ages. Critical thinking predicts successful outcomes in academic, workplace, and general life areas. Poor critical thinking skills may put individuals at risk for serious detrimental consequences. Given their importance, assessment and training of effective critical thinking skills need to be emphasized. Although these efforts are common in college and adult settings, programs designed for younger ages (i.e., prekindergarten through Grade 12, or preK–12) may be particularly effective and may help facilitate preK–12 students’ postsecondary academic and occupational pursuits. In this paper, we utilized a systematic approach to developing a conceptual framework for critical thinking that includes four subskills: Information Seeking, Information Analysis, Argument Generation, and Logical Reasoning. We articulate key distinctions between our critical thinking definition and overlapping constructs and discuss assessment and training considerations for practical and research settings. With this framework, our goal is to provide a theoretical foundation for important measurement and development applications for preK–12 students, both inside and outside schools.

Suggested citation: Williams, K. M., Ling, G., Chen, Y. R., Brantley, W., Dosumu, F., & Wang, Y. (2026). Navigating the (mis)information age: A conceptual framework for defining, assessing, and teaching critical thinking in pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 education (Research Report No. RR–26-11). ETS. https://doi.org/10.64634/m6pbsm63